The following is the sixth and final post in a series of reports from the Ethiopian village of Koraro, an important testing ground for the Millennium Village Project, an experiment in global development strategy spearheaded by economist Jeffrey Sachs. The reports, written by Jeff Marlow, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, consider which parts of the project are working and which ones aren’t, and what can be learned from it to help billions of people escape extreme poverty.

At the Koraro district’s Farmer Training Center, rows of crouching farmers draped in white robes have come to hear Professor Sachs speak. Few locals know who the spectacled foreigner is, but when word spread that the man responsible for “The Project” was around, a crowd quickly gathered. Through a translator, Sachs highlights the Project’s successes and fields questions from the farmers, concluding his speech with a look toward the future. “We’ve been with you for five years, and we will partner with you another five” he says, adding “…if you would like to partner with us,” almost as an afterthought.